Okay, okay, I'm really sorry. A constant stream of events has prevented me from typing this, but I've managed to finally post. So, without further adieu...

Chapter 5

Journeys

Marth and Link ran through the countryside, trees and animals simply flying by their vision. Marth ran slightly faster than Link, and Navi lagged far behind. Navi would normally be first, but she was actually thinking while they traveled. To be quite honest, Marth and Link had no idea where they were going. When Navi asked, Marth said "Where Ike went" and pointed in the general direction of the west. Link had nodded in agreement.

Yes, because that completely narrows it down.

Navi had to sigh in exasperation as the two impulsive heroes ran with a seemingly limitless supply of energy. She and Link had been on countless adventures together. Still, Link never seemed to change. He dressed in the same green tunic, quested with the same sense of courage, and defeated all in his path with the same great power. Navi never had any real complaint about this, but you'd think he would eventually get tired of rescuing Zelda and defeating Ganondorf with no reward in sight.

Lately, however, Link had changed.

It all started about three weeks ago, while he was training. There was a blinding flash that stunned Navi. While she fell to the ground, Link began convulsing, and uttered a scream of pain. Then, about three seconds later, it was finished, Navi was alright, and Link was still training as if nothing had happened. When Navi asked, Link only shrugged. By the looks of it, he didn't even remember.

His attitude changed. He was much more aggressive and cocky. He teaches a class of sword-fighting in the castle's courtyard sometimes. Before the incident, he would be gentle with his students, giving them pointers on how to improve. After it, he became much more like a drill instructor, and once even physically assaulted one of his students.

After about five hours of nonstop running, the prince and the hero collapsed on the ground, out of breath and exhausted. They were asleep within seconds.

If Navi had a face, she would've smiled. Instead, she simply let out a chuckle.

As Link and Marth snored on the ground, Navi took refuge in a tree, laying her wings and allowing her light to dim.

As Navi slipped into the dream world, she stared at the night sky, and briefly pondered things that were happening. Wario, Meta Knight, and King Dedede were all dead, Ike was indeed alive, someone was trying to unite the Dragoon, Luigi had disappeared, and Link had become an abusive man.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

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"Hey, Game and Watch. Where are the peanuts again?" Kirby asked in the backseat. R.O.B. allowed his eyes to release a small spark in amusement, while Samus rolled here eyes. Game and Watch turned, as the van was in a traffic jam, and gawked at the pile of 63 empty bags that were formerly home to salted peanuts.

"Um...if we have anymore, sir, they are in the pocket attached to the back of my seat," the 2D man answered. Kirby hungrily reached in and pulled out at least 79 more bags, inhaling all of them. There was a slight gurgle in his stomach, and he burped out the bags, minus the peanuts. Due to R.O.B.'s technology, the bags were sucked into a compartment in the van's ceiling, where they were incinerated. Samus leaned forward while Game and Watch started driving again.

"You packed prepared, eh, GW?" the bounty hunter asked, amused. Game and Watch laughed and nodded, although it was difficult to see due to his dimensions and Samus' angle of vision. Samus cocked her head.

"How did all of those bags fit in the pocket? It's about as tall as my shin!" she exclaimed. Game and Watch laughed again.

"How do Link and Snake carry all of those weapons around?" was the very interesting question Game and Watch replied with. Samus shuddered, remembering that Snake had tried to ask her to his room to "tell her the secret" of how he stores his weapons. Might as well have said "I want to get you naked and then sleep with you."

Snake had simply vanished around the time that Ness and his companions left on their journey. Many thought he had gone to watch over them, but he was never seen again. He was mourned for along with Ike, Wolf, Ness, and Luigi, all who had disappeared sometime around this course of events. Truth be told, even Samus missed seeing him confidently stride across the battlefield and outsmart his opponent, then make them feel humiliated when they lose. As an added bonus, he would give a little wink to a random lady in the crowd. Zelda and Peach would swoon at this, but Samus just scowled.

As the sky darkened, Game and Watch pulled up to a Day's Inn. Samus, Game and Watch, and R.O.B. exited, with R.O.B. carrying a sleeping Kirby. Samus smiled. For all his leadership skills and police sheriff act, the puffball was just a child at heart.

"Okay, so we all get one room?" Game and Watch said, but panicked when he saw Samus' Paralyzer pointed at his head. "Um...I meant, WE get one room, SAMUS gets her own room," the sweating 2D said. Samus nodded, hoping that Game and Watch didn't have any perverted intentions with his first offer.

They checked in, and Samus walked into her room and flopped onto one of the two queen-size beds. What a long day.

Game and Watch rested on one bed, while R.O.B. laid Kirby on the other and plugged himself into the electrical outlet. Game and Watch was asleep in minutes, while R.O.B. gently allowed his systems to stand by. Finally, his metallic eyes closed, and he "slept".

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Fox bolted into the castle's throne room. As expected, it was pink. Everything was pink. The curtains were pink, the paintings were pink, the windows were tinted pink, the carpet was pink, the throne was pink, and the dress of the princess sitting in the throne was pink.

Peach.

"Fox!" The blond princess exclaimed, arms held open as if to embrace. "How have you been?" The vulpine in question accepted the hug.

"Pretty good, princess, up until today." Fox noticed something in the princess' eyes, however. Something was off about them, but Fox just couldn't say what.

"Fox, you silly...er, fox! Just call me Peach! And what's wrong?" The princess turned her head, although her expression was a bit less concerned than it normally would be. Fox noticed her eyes again, but he still couldn't tell what exactly was out of place about them. Fox also realized that her hands were larger than usual, as was the rest of her body. Her nails even felt like over sized claws on his fur.

So THAT'S what was with the eyes...

"Peach...Is something wrong? You seem a bit...bigger...than usual." Fox's inner masculinity gave his decision making process a swift kick in the pants. You NEVER say anything remotely like that to a woman and expect your dignity to stay intact. Especially not a PRINCESS.

To Fox's surprise, Peach's eyes darkened, and she reared her head back and started laughing. The completely pink room began to fade away into a black, dreary, evil room, complete with chains, torches, and a maniacally laughing person in the center.

And Peach began to change. Hell, "began" isn't a good word, her body just vanished, but the dress stayed in air, as if it remained inside. Then, it began to expand, so much that it tore in some places. Finally, a horned turtle's head rose from the neck, and his claws came out from the dress' arms. Two yellow turtle legs emerged from the skirt.

Bowser.

Please note that Fox would repeatedly berate himself for wasting the perfect opportunity to pump a few laser blasts into Bowser by instead struggling to stifle a chuckle at the sight of the Koopa King in a pink dress. Hey, blame it on the unwilling sky dive.

That mistake made, two koopas ran in and swiftly bonked Fox on the head with a hammer. Muttering "Not again," Fox fell to the floor.

"Take this loser to the dungeon!" Bowser yelled, and his underlings complied. To no one in particular, he yelled "And someone help me out of this dress!"

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Whew, done! This was mostly a character development scene, and further expand on the very weighty back-story of this. I may as well make a prequel sometime. Hell, go on, someone can go and suggest ideas for it. Seriously, I'm sorry for the long wait. I'm really busy lately.

POLL THAT COULD POSSIBLY AFFECT STORY: A fate shall be revealed next chapter...but who's fate? YOU CHOOSE!